Salzburg

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Probably not the going to be the most exciting read today, as the events that occurred today were not overly enthralling. Nonetheless, it was still an enjoyable day for our arrival and overnight stay in Salzburg.

We woke early this morning - the first time for the whole trip we have needed to set an alarm. Our journey today was via train to the city of Salzburg - the birthplace of Mozart and the city which belongs to the Sound of Music. We went for an early breakfast at the hotel, and unlike yesterday, it was fairly quiet. Only a few other couples were about at about 7am.

As this was only going to be an overnight stay our main luggage was able to stay in our hotel, and we each took a backpack with us to the train. So thankfully, no lugging around heavy bags for a few hours before we could check in.

Our train was leaving Innsbruck at 8:20am, but me being me and wanting to be prepared we headed for the station around 7:30. It took about 5-10 minutes from our hotel to walk, and even at this time it was still dark. That is probably usual for a lot of Europe during winter, but to us - even in winter - it feels odd. We thought it would be challenging to find our platform, and also we thought our online ticket would need to be transferred into actual tickets.

Well, we found our platform easy enough and when we went in to ask about our tickets she told us that the paper copy was enough. So, of course, we now had 30 minutes to spare, which we hadn't expected.

The station had a few shops, but they are at every station in Austria, so we had already been to most of them. So, we waited for that 30 minutes on the platform, a little bit cold in the early hours.

The train ride itself is quite beautiful. There isn't any snow in Innsbruck apart from the mountains, but as you pass villages and small towns the fields and rooftops are completely white. It was absolute gorgeous scenery.

The route to Salzburg passes through Germany for a little bit, which I think is where the snow-covered villages mostly were. I was alerted to the fact that we had entered Germany by my international roaming. My phone company decided to message me and inform me of the costs of using my phone in Germany.

It takes approximately an hour and 40 minutes to reach Salzburg, but the train ride went really fast. We were worried that we were in the wrong seats, for somebody asked us to move as they had numbers on their tickets. We searched everywhere and couldn't find any numbers on ours, despite reserving; but when the people checking the tickets came around, they never said anything.

Once we arrived in Salzburg, I was surprised how cold it was. We had adjusted nicely to the weather in Innsbruck, which was cold, but not bitterly cold. Really, it reminded us of a Canberra winter there. In Salzburg, it seemed to be bordering Vienna weather again.

The real challenge of navigating Salzburg came the moment we left the station. We had absolutely no idea of our bearings, or where we were. We took a guess of a direction to take and we got it wrong. The further we walked the closer we came to quiet and empty streets, situated with houses or apartment buildings.

After turning around to head back in the opposite direction we stumbled upon a little shopping centre with some shops inside. As it was way too early to check into our accommodation we probably killed some time by looking through the shops. Our first stop was a shop that is probably equivalent to K-Mart. It has a few food items, some make-up items and some stationary. I bought some letter writing paper and Albert bought a new smelling after shave, deodorant and soap which he said was by Ferrari.

In another shop I then bought some new boots. My ones (expensive ones bought from a camping/outdoor shop) are essentially ruined. I found a really nice pair in this shop and they only had one left in my size. Plus they were reduced from 40 euro to 30 euro. It seemed like a sign, and the fact that they looked really good on me, I just had to buy them.

One thing we are noticing that is difficult in Austria is finding a place to eat. There really are not as many cafés and restaurants around as one would like to think; and where they are is essentially in the city areas. If you're looking for somewhere to eat in the suburbs, it's almost impossible.

Then, those that you do find allow smoking indoors. As Albert and I are both non smokers it would be hard to enjoy a meal when you are breathing in the cigarette smoke all the time, so we avoid those places. So, after much searching, we resorted to Burger King, which really wasn't all that enjoyable anyway.

Our next mission was to find Mozart's birthplace. We had absolutely no idea where it was, but a quick search on Google maps with bad WiFi access in Burger King sent us in what we hoped to be the right direction. Somehow during that we managed to find the central city area, and also Mirabell Palace. Seeing this allowed us to find where our Sound of Music tour tomorrow would begin as there is a big fat sign plastered there, and directly opposite it is the palace, which is a set location of the movie (the ball scene, I believe, but I'll probably find that out tomorrow).

You are free to wander through the palace gardens without cost, so we decided to take a stroll (at this time not realising it was a set location as we really were not sure where we were). Although it wasn't snowing in Salzburg today, it seemed that they had recently had a day or two of it, for the ground in many places had piles of plowed snow, or the garden was hardly visible underneath it. It was really pretty.

After exiting Albert was able to pick up some WiFi which told us we were indeed headed in the right direction and only a few minutes away from the birthplace of Mozart. Simultaneously, we were in search of the Salzburg old town, but weren't really sure where that was either.

On the way you need to cross a bridge. Not only does this bridge give you a gorgeous view of Salzburg and the mountains surrounding it, but the bridge itself is stunning, created by the people and visitors. The whole way across are love-locks. You know, the locks which can be as simple as padlocks and couples write their names on them and then throw the keys into the water. It's supposed to symbolise eternal love (I do wonder, though, just how many of those people are still together now...). There are thousands of them, and they really do make the walk to the other side pleasant. We didn't stop to read any, but other people were. It would take you days to get through them.

Crossing that bridge just happened to get us into old town, too, and subsequently, we found Mozart's birthplace. Like most museums, photos are not permitted, so unfortunately we have no photos of the inside, but it costs 10 euros per person to enter. You actually do get to go into the place where Mozart lived and where he was born. As you walk up the stairs you see an old-fashioned kitchen with a woodfire stove and a place that has not been touched or modified.

As you move into the other rooms there is a lot of information about the Mozart family - about Mozart himself, his sister, his parents, and his children. They were not a wealthy family, but had enough money to survive. The apartment that they lived in was not spectacular or a stand out in anyway. It was simply an apartment amongst many in Salzburg at the time.

I really enjoyed looking through the house, and Albert enjoyed it, too. It's interesting seeing the real-life aspect of one of the most famous composers to ever exist. And he plays a very large role in the tourist side of Salzburg. In every souvenir shop you enter, it is filled with either Mozart or Sound of Music collector things.

By the time 1:30 hit, we thought it would be okay to head to our accommodation. Check-in was at 3, but that was the same as our hotel in Vienna and we managed to get in just after 1. We caught a taxi, and he dropped us off without a worry. It wasn't until we went to enter did we see the sign that said the office hours for check in literally only operated from 3 o'clock. So, we really couldn't get in until then. Luckily we only had backpacks and not our big, heavy suitcases to lug around.

Now, let me tell you about our accommodation. It is called Villa Trapp, and it is the actual residence of the REAL Von Trapp family. Not the movie location or family, but the family the story is based off. It is situated in a residential district of Salzburg with a supermarket and a park, and an old church up the road.

Inside, it is a very homely feeling. There is a living area and a dining room, and on the next two levels are the accommodation. We are on the top most level, which at one stage we believe was the attic, or belonged to one of the Von Trapp children.

Each room has pictured of the family and also newspaper articles framed on the wall. The way you locate your room is by a number, but out the front of each room a number is dedicated to one of the children (on this level at least). We are in room number 6, and this room is about the youngest daughter, who in the movie is Gretl. We are unsure of whether or not this room truly belonged to them, and it has obviously been modified, but it is truly a wonderful experience to be here.

While we waited we bought some food to keep us occupied, sat on a park bench that overlooked the snow-covered park, and then took a walk up to the old church to see what WA around. Not much; just a quiet area where people live.

Once we did check in we were greeted by a very lovely man who was happy to help us with all of our questions such as reaching our meeting place for the tour tomorrow. It's simple, really, a bus comes about a five minute walk away and stops right in front of the love-lock bridge (as we are calling it). From there, it is a 5-10 minute walk. We tested it tonight to ensure we knew where we going and we found it rather simply.

As I mentioned before, finding a place to eat is rather difficult here, but we remembered seeing a few restaurants in old town, so headed that way. Just before we entered we saw another L'Osteria - that restaurant in Vienna with very large-sized drinks and pizza. Knowing we would like it in there, we went in, and coincidentally, we were seated right next to another Australian couple.

After a while we began talking to them. They were from Perth and were in Europe for a bit of skiing and holidaying. They were very lovely, and we were actually there talking to them long after our meals had finished - up until they were made leave as the table they were at was reserved at 7:30. But it was enjoyable being able to talk to them and get to know them. We seemed to get along really well!

Tomorrow we do our main reason for coming to Salzburg - the Sound of Music tour - and then head back to Innsbruck in the afternoon.

See you all tomorrow!

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Photos

Love-lock bridge
This is only a small portion. And they're on both sides, too!

Train view
Snow everywhere!